Protests In Tahrir And Tel Aviv Are Increasingly In Tents

It looks like Tahrir, Egypt and Tel Aviv, Israel may have something in common.

Activists back in Tahrir Square to salvage revolution

Last week, the LA Times blog, Babylon and Beyond, reports how Egyptians protesters are trying to recreate the protests that brought down Mubarak:

For the first time since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, a large-scale sit-in with tents and banners is hunkered in Tahrir Square as protesters and activists demand that the revolution's ideals are not swept aside by the ruling military council.

The original protests have not been entirely successful in bringing about their intended effect--and it is not at all clear that the second round of protests will make any difference.

Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv...

Students in Tel Aviv protest housing shortage and high prices

Now, Babylon and Beyond is reporting on Israeli students in Tel Aviv staging protests of their own:

Last week, students took to the streets to protest the housing shortage and high prices, turning Tel Aviv into a huge campground as dozens of tents were set up, complete with makeshift facilities, kitchens and, of course, a lot of media attention.

The Tel Aviv protests are being effective:

The government is paying attention. If the government doesn't bring down housing prices, housing prices will bring down the government, warned lawmaker Carmel Shama-Hacohen, chairman of the parliament's economic affairs committee. Meanwhile, protesters were handing out sleeping bags to passersby outside government offices in Jerusalem.

One interesting point, I thought, was whether these protests were inspired by the general wave of protests in the Middle East:

Maybe it's that protest is in the regional air. Or maybe members of the usually blase public were emboldened by a recent campaign to boycott cottage cheese that succeeded in bringing powerful dairy companies to their knees and lowering prices.

That's right: the Tel Aviv protests may have nothing to do with the rest of the Middle East.
Instead, the protests may be part of a growing cottage industry.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Egypt and Arab Spring.